Woman says pregnancy the reason she was fired

POINT PLEASANT - A woman is suing her ex-employer, alleging she was fired for discriminatory reasons.

Ashley M. Nottingham filed a lawsuit Dec. 11 in the Circuit Court of Mason County against Vaidya Urology Clinic Inc. and Shrikant K. Vaidya MD.

Nottingham says she was employed by the defendants from Oct. 10, 2011, until she was terminated Aug. 18, 2012. She says during her initial hiring, she was informed that after completing a 90-day probation period she would be provided with 100 percent medical and dental insurance, a 401K that Dr. Vaidya paid 100 percent into and retirement.

Nottingham says during her employment, the defendants became aware that she was pregnant and she missed work due to illness April 3-6, but that during the time the office was closed because Dr. Vaidya was not in the office.

She says when she returned to work she was questioned about a doctor's excuse. She says that on April 11, she was scolded by the defendant for missing work and was confronted about her pregnancy. When she admitted to being pregnant was told she should have told the defendant she was planning on getting pregnant before she was hired, she alleges.

On April 12, the defendants enacted a new attendance policy and would not allow Nottingham to come to work until she had sent in a doctor's excuse for her missed time.

She says that when she was able to return, her workload was increased causing her to stay late most evenings and work on both Saturday and Sunday, without extra pay for the overtime hours.

According to the complaint, after Nottingham's maternity leave, she was not allowed to come back to work and was eventually fired, allegedly due to her gender and pregnancy.

Nottingham is seeking damages for mental and emotional distress, lost wages, lost benefits, costs and attorney's fees. She is being represented in the case by attorney Walt Auvil of Rusen & Auvil PLLC.

Mason County Circuit Court Civil Action No. 13-C-176